


Three Kisses

by glim



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Canonical Character Death, Community: summerpornathon, Kisses, M/M, Protective Merlin, Summer Pornathon 2015, Team Gluttony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 05:50:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4613565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Arthur wants promises with his kisses, then Merlin will promise him the world, he will promise Arthur all that man and magic can accomplish to keep his king safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Summer Pornathon 2015: Challenge 2 - three.

Arthur tumbles Merlin to the ground with a clatter of borrowed weaponry and the crunch of late autumn leaves. Before Merlin can recover, he tumbles himself atop Merlin, breathless with laughter. 

"You really are hopeless," Arthur says, but his words are neither sharp nor cruel. "Maybe the sword isn't your weapon."

"I can defend myself, you know." Merlin tries to wriggle free, then stills and raises his head to let Arthur draw his helmet off. "Just not with sharp, pointy things." 

"Hm. I guess a dagger is out of the question, then." Arthur inches his body up Merlin's, so their noses touch, and he smiles. "What about a mace? A flail?" 

"Arthur, no!" Merlin laughs when Arthur leans away to reach for another of his weapons. He tugs Arthur back, glad to feel Arthur's breath come hot and short against his neck, and for the snug press of Arthur's leg between his own. 

Arthur makes a small, soft 'oh' sound, and turns to brush his nose over Merlin's again. He touches his lips to Merlin, so lightly it's barely even a touch, and then leans in to do it once more. When they kiss, it's a murmur of lips against each other, and Arthur sighs when Merlin leans up closer to him to deepen it. 

Merlin reaches up to touch Arthur's hair; he frowns when Arthur has to pull away when distant voices break the quiet of the crisp, chilly morning. 

"Not yet," Arthur says, "but soon, I promise." 

*

Merlin hovers at the edge of the court after the king dies. Arthur's coronation must follow quickly upon Uther's funeral, lest either Arthur or his kingdom appear vulnerable. Control is concentrated at the center of the court; control and power, and Merlin has access to both only through Arthur. 

Yet, here at the edge of the throne room, in the alcoves and cloisters, is where control, power, and certainty begin to fray. Whispered doubts among courtiers, and the worry that breeds alongside fear. 

Though he cannot save Arthur from any of this, Merlin is determined to protect him from the worst of it, at least until his grief settles. 

He walks Arthur from the throne room to the royal apartments, silent and attentive, and when Arthur withdraws into his private rooms, Merlin does, too. Arthur stays silent, however, even after he's changed into his evening clothes and has had dinner set before him. Wine only seems to make him more despondent, and his eyes look dull with sadness. 

"Everything will change," Arthur says. He touches Merlin's hand, pulls him down to sit next to him before the fire. 

"Not everything." Merlin keeps Arthur's hand in his own, held tight between both palms. 

"Can you promise me that?"

Arthur's eyes gleam with sudden need. He doesn't wait for Merlin to answer, but frees his hand to cup Merlin's cheek, to pull him closer until their foreheads rest against each other. "Can you? Will you promise me?"

"I will. I give you my word." 

If Arthur wants promises with his kisses, then Merlin will promise him the world, he will promise Arthur all that man and magic can accomplish to keep his king safe. He parts his lips as Arthur kisses him, and returns the kisses with such gentle precision that it is not long before Arthur is arching into them. 

Merlin breaks away, and the need that brightened Arthur's eyes has become sharp, urgent. He mutters half-broken pleas against Merlin's neck, asks Merlin to touch him, begs Merlin to keep touching him, to put his hands over his arms and chest and to press slow and steady against his hardness. 

They sleep curled up around each other in the center of the king' bed, buried beneath blankets and the breathless vows they make against each other's skin.

*

Merlin touches the tips of his fingers to Arthur's eyelids and to his mouth, keeps his touch tender, remembers how he used to touch Arthur while he slept so as not to wake him. 

"Promise me," he says as he rests his hand on Arthur's forehead, "promise me that I will not have to wait longer than I can bear. Promise me you'll come home," he says. 

There is no reply, and Arthur's lips are cool and still beneath his own, but in his heart Merlin can hear Arthur's wordless promise to return to him.


End file.
